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Bennie and Bill
'' '' Bennie and Bill is an American animated television comedy-musical series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 20, 2015, and officially premiered on February 4, 2016 on Cartoon Network, the series follows Bennie Blinn and his English stepbrother Bill Bletcher on summer vacation. Every day, the boys embark on some grand new project, which annoys their controlling sister, Olivia, who tries to bust them. The series follows a standard plot system; running gags occur every episode, and the B-Plot almost always features Bradley the Duck ("Agent B"), acting as a spy ("Agent B") for the OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym), to fight an evil scientist named Dr. Paris Scratchansniff. However, Dr. Scratchansniff, or Scratch as he refers to himself, feels the need to assert his evilness. Sometimes, other villains scoff at his level of evil. The two plots intersect at the end to erase all traces of the boys' project just before Olivia can show it to their mother. This usually leaves Olivia very frustrated. Similar to Phineas and Ferb. Creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh worked together on the Fox series The Simpsons and Nickelodeon series Rocko's Modern Life. The Creators also voice two of the main B-plot characters: Major Yazmine and Dr. Scratchansniff. Bennie and Bill was conceived after Bruce sketched a triangular boy—the blueprint for the eponymous Bennie —in a restaurant. Bruce developed the series concept together and pitched to networks for 16 years before securing a run on Cartoon Network. On May 29, 2017, it was moved to The Jariel Network and Jariel X2 block. Bill: "Hey, Bennie, what we're gonna do tonight?" Bennie: "Bill, I know what we're gonna do tonight." Bennie: "Hey, where's bradley?" Ursula: "Hi, Bennie, Howcha doin'?" Origins Creators Craig Bartlett met as layout artists on Rugrats-1990's, where they sat across from each other as layout artists on that series. They bonded over a shared sense of humor and were eventually paired as a writing team on Hey Arnold! for Nickelodeon where they learned more and more aspects of the animation production business. It was during this time that the pair started to develop a show that would allow them to continue working together as writers. Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, California, where they have butcher paper over the tables and crayons for you to draw with, Bartlett was sharing a meal with his wife when he drew the first sketch of a Pig Circle-headed kid. Bartlett that evening and told him the news: he had Bennie. Style All the other characters grew from that simple Pig Circle-headed kid. Bennie is a Circle, Bill is a rectangle, and Olivia and Ursula are half-circles. The goal was to create simple characters that kids could easily draw on their own. They also created characters that were easily recognizable in silhouette, which is an old animation standard that Marc Brown taught Bartlett while he was working on Arthur. After the characters were set, they decided to work geometric shapes into the background to tie the whole thing together. Marsh describes this homage to legendary Looney Tunes animator/director Tex Avery, "There's a little bit of Tex Avery in there — he had that very graphic style his later cartoons. A lot of what I see the series now is borrowed from Tex." The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show provided additional inspiration in its format, where several different stories would be resolved together at the end of the episode. The color palette was originally a matter of discussion. Bartlett wanted bright candy-colored characters with natural colors for the backgrounds. Bartlett emphasized the need "for all of the stuff that they do to work, their world needs to be grounded in reality." Jariel wanted a more stylized palette. Bartlett recalled, "I actually had discussions with Jariel about this because they wanted to come up with a cool color scheme. I just wanted it to feel like Winter ." The creators won out in the end. The WordGirl Connection Bartlett were no longer working together. Marsh had moved to London to work on an assortment of films and series including Postman Pat and Bounty Hamster. Povenmire had started animating and directing WordGirl episodes, but continued to shop the show around to Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Fox Kids. Studios were worried about the complexity of the plots for the time allowed. At Fox, there were a few meetings, but negotiations fizzled out. Nickelodeon kept sending it up higher and higher in the production personnel ranks, but it was eventually deemed too complicated to pull off. Their stubbornness and persistence paid off when Bartlett finally got a meeting with Jariel. According to Bartlett, "Jariel was the first to say, 'Let's see if you can do it in 11 minutes.' We did it in the pilot and they said, 'Let's see if you can do it for 26 episodes.'"The Jariel Network And TBS Senior VP of Original Series Adam Bonnet was a fan of WordGirl and wasn't scared off by Dorothea Gillim recalls about Bonnet, "He called me for a meeting when I was working on a different pilot for them just to tell me how much he liked WordGirl. When I came back to pitch my own show, I think he was more open to it." Gillim brought "some of that prime time animation timing without any of the raunch" to Bennie and Bill. In fact, many of the blank stares and sight gags have a prime time and Tex Avery charm to them. "People think WordGirl is a success because of how raunchy the gags are. I don't think it would have been a success at all if the timing wasn't absolutely crystal pitch perfect -- if there wasn't just the right amount of pause before or after the line. Comedy is all about timing and I think that's what people are responding to." Original Story Pitch Production Writing Style Animation Cast Plots Bennie and Bill Scenario Agent B Sub-Plot Olivia Sub-Plot Reception Ratings Marketing and merchandise Homages Songs Running Gags Series launch description Design Notes Characters The series' main characters live in a blended family, a premise the creators considered underused in children's programming and which reflected Marsh's own upbringing. Marsh considers explaining the family background "not important to the kids' lives. They are a great blended family and that's all we need to know." The choice of a duck as the Pigs' pet was similarly inspired by media underuse, as well as to exploit its striking appearance. The duck also gives them freedom to "make stuff up" since "no one knows very much about them." {C Marsh called the characters "cool, edgy and clever without ... being mean-spirited." According to Povenmire, their animation director, Rob Hughes, agreed: "in all the other shows every character is either stupid or a jerk, but there are no stupid characters or jerks in this one." *Bennie Blinn (Justin Bieber): One of the two titular characters, Xia Blinn's son, Olivia's brother, Bill Bletcher's stepbrother and Xaden Bletcher's stepson. Bennie is an intelligent, creative boy inspired to make the Winter as great as it can be by coming up with ideas for unusual, exciting, and sometimes impossible activities (such as building a Snow rollercoaster in their backyard). His most important traits are oratory skills, creativity and optimism. He is very polite and is never selfish or rude to anyone. His stepbrother, Bill , is his best friend and partner in their activities. He also gets along with his stepfather quite well, calling him "Dad". He loves his sister Olivia, yet usually upsets her with his schemes. He has a normal relationship with his mom. He often wonders about the whereabouts of his pet duck Bradley. His catch phrases are, "Hey, Bennie, what we're gonna do tonight?", "Bill, I know what we're gonna do tonight." and "Has anybody seen Bradley?"(or "Hey, where's Bradley?"). A lot of people ask him if he is too young to be working on his current project to which he almost always responds, "Yes, yes I am". *Bill Bletcher (Robert Axelrod): Bill is a very intelligent boy who rarely speaks. He usually has at least one line in every episode. When he does speak he reveals his baritone voice and British accent. Bill is Xaden's son, Xia's stepson, and Olivia and Bennie's stepbrother. He always helps Bennie with his nearly impossible plans. In the episode "I Stink, You Stink", he is shown to like Holly Scratchansniff by saying to Bennie "I was weak" when he took the wrong blueprints. He's good at playing the guitar, the keyboard, maracas, tambourine, bass, trumpet, bagpipes, harmonica and the drums. *Olivia Blinn (Kate Gosselin): Olivia is a 17-year old teenage girl. She is always aware of all of the Pigs' plans. Usually she attempts to get the boys in trouble with their mom, but when she gets her mother to see what they are doing they always look perfectly innocent and normal. She has a love interest in Vallory. She often uses her cell phone and acts much like a stereotypical teenager when not trying to stop her brothers' antics. She is allergic to wild parsnips, which make her face turn red), and in " and puffy. Also, it makes her voice deeper and it has her sing like a blues singer. She is also terribly afraid of heights. She has a Dino Doll named "Mr. Wiggins". It is revealed that she has a "Panic Room" for when she goes crazy. While she is constantly angry at her brothers, there are signs that underneath it all she loves them. Her catchphrases are, "You are so grounded" and "Hey, Mom! You really need to see what Bennie and Bill!". Olivia is good at singing and playing a number of instruments, all of which, begin with the letter "B". Her birthday is December 11th. She had a tree house which Bennie and Bill remodeled. *Bradley the Duck (Jason Marsden): He is Bennie and Bill's pet Duck, who, unbeknownst to his owners, lives a double life as a secret agent. He has a lair under the Bletcher's house that can be entered through a lot of passages, like a tree in the backyard the "Chimneyvator", (an elevator inside the chimney), or a lot of other places that lead to underground tube systems. His nemesis is`Dr. Paris Scratchansniff , and he is always sent to foil the doctor's plans, which he always successfully accomplishes. A running gag in the show, is that his missions often end up covering evidence of Bennie and Bill's activities by accident, thus Xia never finds out about the boys' schemes. *Xia Blinn (Jennifer Hale): Mother to Mother to Olivia, stepmother to Bill Bletcher. She is married to Xaden Bletcher, but she seems not to use his last name as her cooking teacher called her "Miss Blinn", although in "Olivia Loses Her Nose", Ursula called her "Mrs. Bletcher ". She is a regular American mother, although she plays in a free form jazz band with Ursula's and Vallory's mothers, and was once a one hit wonder pop star under the name "Xiia" in the '70s. She is generally busy, or trying to relax, while her daughter tries to get her to see that the boys are up to some crazy plan. Xia seems to think that Olivia is crazy and needs professional help. Xia can play the keyboard, the triangle, and the guitar. Her favorite band is Faith Hill, which thet went to on her anniversary with Xaden Bletcher, which is May 15th. *Katherine Hailey-Uriah (Vanessa Hudgens): She is a best friend Bennie and Bill. She is also the leader of the local Riverside Girls troop 35120. She often assists the boys in their plans, enlisting the whole troop of girls in the process at times, often for badges or other credits. She is a big fan of the boys and their plots, particularly Bennie, whom she has a crush on and shows feelings for him at times. Bennie apparently does not return the feelings and only views her as a friend. It is unclear whether or not he is aware of her crush and most likely is void of it. Ursula makes no efforts to get Bennie to notice her. She is also seen to have a pet Lion Cub named Rake who temporarily spazzes out as shown in "Journey to the Center of Olivia". She has a mom named Hannah Sabrina-Elisabeth. Her catchphrase is, "How'cha doin'?" *Dr.Paris Scratchansniff (Craig Bartlett): He is the mad scientist, comic relief and head of "Scratchansniff Evil Incorporated". The Scratchansniff Evil Incorporated building looks like Bill's head. His lair appears to be a standard major corporation, and even has its own theme song. All his plans tend to be thwarted by Bradley the Duck. The Doctor turned to evil because of his unhappy childhood (celebrating his birthday alone, his father using him as a garden gnome, etc). Now he attempts to wreak havoc across "the entire Farm-state area". Dr. Scratchansniff is divorced and has a 14 year old daughter named Holly (who turns 15 in the episode Man, We're Getting the Rock Band Back Together). Like Olivia, Holly is obsessed with busting her father to her mother. She is dedicated to exposing her father's evil schemes. He is not really a doctor as pointed out by his daughter, as his Doctorate Degree has a $14 price tag on it. His catchphrase is "Why you, Bradley the Duck!". In the episode "Is a gGood Thing That You Remembered", Dr. Scratchansniff meets Blossom the Grizzy Bearand makes him his new enemy. After going on a parody of Dr. Phil, Dr. GetAway, things are worked out and Bradley and Dr. Scratchansniff are enemies again. *Xaden Bletcher (Maurice LaMarche): Father to Bill, stepfather to Olivia and Bennie. He is generally unaware of any of his kids' plans. He once became aware of one of the their plans, but was okay with it because they were trying to help their sister. He also keeps his treasured memories in a toolbox. His anniversary with Xia Bletcher-Blinn is May 15th. Ursula has once called him "Mr. Flynn". ("Magic BoomBox") *Major Yazmine (Gábor Csupó): He is Bradley's superior on a huge screen in his secret hideout (which was shown in one episode to be a warehouse with a screen that appears when he talks to Bradley, a camera, and his assistant), and tells Bradley if he needs to do anything. He is the one of the employees at the Organization Without a Cool Acronym. *Vallory Vike (Jessie Usher): Vallory is the love interest of Olivia. Whenever activities are going on in the Bletcher-Blinn house, he goes to visit just to enjoy the activity. In an interview with Jessie Usher , he revealed that Vallory returns Olivia's feelings for him. *Ocean The Ulises (Jaleel White): The person who operates the camera for Bradley's secret hideout. He is a bit forgetful and sometimes humiliates the Major, ending up with the usual screen gag. It is revealed that he is an intern to earn college credit. *Emma Tiana (Demi Lovato): Olivia's very enthusiastic best friend. She appears in many episodes, but is usually with Olivia when something very exciting happens; in "Lawn Gnome Christmas Party of Terror", she appeared telling Olivia that she could be the most popular kid in the neighborhood for having a backyard beach and that Vallory was there. Another major appearence is in "Ready for the Jennys", joining Olivia on a tour bus with a band called "The Jennys". In "Clue to Get Ready", she fights against Bennie and Bill's treehouse. *Nicky Hon Eaden (Jocelyn Blue): The neighborhood bully. He is tough, yet not seen at all. He likes tough stuff, but is afraid of the most trivial things, as shown in "The Bully", in which icicle ice cream falls on his pants and he screams, in "Get This BumbLaunch Outa My Face!" in which he became afraid when he was told about BumbLaunch (by Bennie), and in "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", he dresses up as Edwin Tuckie because that scares Nicky while trying to scare Ursula. *Nickolas (George Takei): He is a foreign child (most likely from Chinese's Punjab region, judging by his name) who is often portrayed as weak and scared, especially around Nicky. He is a math and science whiz and in "Bus Trip of The Day", he questions why spread awareness about the aglets. *Uriah (Greg Berg) is Bennie and Bill's self-proclaimed biggest fan. He always carries a scrapbook that he filled with images and souvenirs from Bennie and Bill's big ideas with him (such as the roller coaster, the chariot race, and the boys with soup, from the Oliver Duck, and a lock of Bill's Hair. *Pablo Nigel (Mark Taylor) is Bennie and Bill's Magic Robot American friend. He can surf, as seen in Lawn Gnome Christmas Party of Terror. Pablo is the son of the artist Nicki Nash (Oil On Olivia), who is famous for his work in making giant creations, from refrigerators to dental floss. He can be seen again in "Jerk De Soleil", attempting to put his foot behind his head as part of a circus act known as the 'Human Chili Cheese Nachos'. He plays the electric violin at the "Winter Rocks" concert in "The Nadeenles & Nickolasles". He is also seen briefly in "Out Of Looney" and "Olivia's Big Day Off". He has seen only once past Rollercoaster: The Musical!, which was a cameo in The Universe Of FusionFall: Bennie and Bill's 1st Movie, whith the Killer Whale from "The Belly of the Beast". *Riverside Girls Troop 35120: They are the girl scout group who are guided by Ursula. They like music and never have been seen without a smile on their faces. They usually count on Bennie and Bill to help get their badges. Their names from the creators are Sammantha,Yazmin, Tiffany,Sandy,Mabel Ellie, and Wilson. Three more came in the 2nd season:An unnamed blonde, an unnamed brunette, and Yamila from the Lil' Sparks, the juinor club of the Riverside Girls. A 10th Riverside Girl came in the season 3 episode "Tour La Bill, that has brown hair, but like the ones from "Middle Aged Kangaroo", she does not have a name yet. *Holly Scratchansniff (Amrita Arora): Dr.Scratchansniff's 15 year old teenage daughter. Her dad and mom are divorced, yet her mother still has a good relationship with him thinking he is just a bit eccentric, but Holly knows that he is the head of Scratchansniff Evil Incorporated and she knows about Bradley. So she constantly tries to demonstrate to her mother that her former husband is evil. She is very sarcastic and mild mannered. Her character's relation to her father is similar to that of Olivia's relation to Bennie and Bill. Holly tries to prove her mom that Scratchansniff is evil, and Olivia wants to prove her mom about Bennie and Bill's schemes. In the episode "I Stink,You Sink", it is revealed that Bill has a crush on Holly. *Olliver Scratchansniff (Maggie Gyllenhaal): Scratchansniff's ex-wife although she still seems to like Scratchansniff a little. She is in the same cooking class as Xia Blinn. Her daughter, Holly Scratchansniff, tries to show her that her ex-husband, Dr. Paris Scratchansniff, is evil and fights against a secret agent platypus named Agent B. Olliver is friends with Xia. Olliver seems to think that Holly is crazy and needs professional help. *Nanny Vo Blinn and Grandpa Ozzie Blinn (Jennifer Hale and Nick Nolte): The Blinn-Bletcher kids' maternal grandparents (they appear in the episodes "Get This BumbLaunch Outa My Face!", "The Ballad of Noodlebeard","Crack That Whip"and "Where's Bradley? Part 1"). They invite the Blinn-Bletcher and the neighborhood kids to a lake house every winter. Though they are old, they sometimes like to get the best of the kids. The names come from the creator Gábor Csupó's great Aunt & Uncle. *Zake (Velibor Topic) is Paris formally evil robot. He had been trained to destroy Bradley, but he failed. He was a one-time member of the Organization Without a Cool Acronym, but was fired since he wasn't an animal. In "A Real Pig Boy", he sung for the first time, explaining (in rap form) how a real boy would be like for him. He sang a second time in "Zake Unleashed". He has another head on him, as seen in "Olivia Disconnected") (voiced by Vinnie Penna), but it was too sarcastic for Paris to be useful, so he put the head in his basement. *Grandma Ivan Bletcher and Grandpa Dylan Bletcher (Valerie Harper and Yvette Kaplan) are Bill's grandparents and Xaden Bletcher's parents that live in England. Known alternatively as the "Flying Fishmonger", Grandpa Dylan used to be a daredevil 39 years ago, driving a fish-shaped motorcycle called "The Holey Mackerel" and having an "anthem" so dreary that it automatically made it rain. This caused the postponing of several attempts to jump McGregor's Gorge, but once Bennie, Bill, Ursula, and the Riverside Girls upped the tempo, Grandpa Dylan finally was able to jump the replica of McGregor's Gorge made in the backyard. Awards and nominations Films Spin-offs Airing Potential In pop culture External links